Methods and Systems to Customize a Vehicle Computing System Based on an Electronic Calendar

ABSTRACT

A vehicle system includes a processor programmed to output a shared screen for a meeting at a vehicle display configured to output infotainment settings. The processor is in communication with the vehicle display and a nomadic device. The processor is programmed to parse a calendar associated with the nomadic device for a meeting within a predefined or selected time window or period. The processor is further programmed to identify login information for the meeting, establish a communication link for the meeting based on the identified login information, and output a shared screen for the meeting at the display based on the vehicle being in a predefined state.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle infotainmentsystems, and more particularly, to customizing the vehicle infotainmentsystems.

BACKGROUND

A vehicle infotainment system is used to provide several features andfunctions including hands-free calling, navigation information and musicto an occupant while traveling to a destination. The vehicleinfotainment system provides settings to allow configuration of thefeatures and functions based on an occupant's preference. The settingsmay be manually configured once the occupant enters the vehicle. Forexample, the vehicle infotainment system may be configured to place andreceive telephone calls at the vehicle. The calls may be initiated usingverbal commands provided by a vehicle occupant or throughphysically-actuated inputs carried by the vehicle and manipulated by thevehicle occupant.

The vehicle infotainment system may receive additional features andfunctions from a connected device such as a smartphone provided by anoccupant. For example, these features and functions have includedfitness, music, and navigation applications. The smartphone features andfunctions may be integrated with the vehicle infotainment system. Thesmartphone communicating with the vehicle infotainment system may bringthe additional features and functions to the vehicle occupant and/or mayconfigure one or more features and functions based on informationprovided by the smartphone. The settings for the vehicle infotainmentsystem features and functions may be adjusted at the smartphone or thevehicle infotainment system.

SUMMARY

In at least one embodiment, a vehicle system includes a processorprogrammed to output a conference call shared screen for a meeting at adisplay configured to output infotainment settings. The processor is incommunication with the display and a nomadic device. The processor isprogrammed to parse a calendar at the nomadic device for a meetingwithin a time window or period. The processor is further programmed toidentify login information for the meeting, establish a communicationlink for the meeting based on identified login information, and output ashared screen for the meeting at the display based on the vehicle beingin a predefined state.

In at least one embodiment, a vehicle conference call method foroutputting meeting information at a vehicle display based on a calendarentry includes recognizing, via a vehicle system, an occupant based on anomadic device and requesting a calendar entry based on a predefinedtime window from the nomadic device. The method further includesrecognizing a meeting based on the calendar entry, parsing for logininformation related to the meeting, and presenting a message via avehicle display to establish a communication link for the meeting basedon the login information.

In at least one embodiment, a computer-program product embodied in anon-transitory computer readable medium having instructions for avehicle processor comprises instructions for parsing a calendar at anomadic device for a conference call meeting entry within a time window.The computer-program product includes further instructions foridentifying login information for the meeting, establishing acommunication link for the meeting based on identified logininformation, and outputting a shared screen for the meeting at thedisplay based on the vehicle being in a predefined state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representative topology of a vehicle computing systemimplementing a user-interactive vehicle information display systemaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a representative block topology of a system for integratingone or more connected devices with the vehicle computing systemaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of the vehiclecomputing system configuring the user-interactive vehicle informationdisplay based on a meeting entry at a calendar according to anembodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a representative example of the vehicle computingsystem presenting one or more meeting options at the display based onthe meeting entry according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5A illustrates a representative example of the vehicle computingsystem presenting a meeting entry configuration request according to anembodiment;

FIG. 5B illustrates a representative example of the vehicle computingsystem outputting a shared screen based on the meeting entry accordingto an embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of the vehiclecomputing system configuring the display based on the meeting entryaccording to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to beunderstood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examplesand other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. Thefigures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggeratedor minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. Asthose of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various featuresillustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures canbe combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures toproduce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described.The combinations of features illustrated provide representativeembodiments for typical applications. Various combinations andmodifications of the features consistent with the teachings of thisdisclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications orimplementations.

The embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide for aplurality of circuits or other electrical devices. All references to thecircuits and other electrical devices and the functionality provided byeach, are not intended to be limited to encompassing only what isillustrated and described herein. While particular labels may beassigned to the various circuits or other electrical devices disclosed,such labels are not intended to limit the scope of operation for thecircuits and the other electrical devices. Such circuits and otherelectrical devices may be combined with each other and/or separated inany manner based on the particular type of electrical implementationthat is desired. It is recognized that any circuit or other electricaldevice disclosed herein may include any number of microprocessors,integrated circuits, memory devices (e.g., FLASH, random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), or other suitable variants thereof) and software which co-actwith one another to perform operation(s) disclosed herein. In addition,any one or more of the electric devices may be configured to execute acomputer-program that is embodied in a non-transitory computer readablemedium that is programmed to perform any number of the functions asdisclosed.

The disclosure relates to a vehicle based computing system (VCS)configured to prepare a vehicle infotainment system display based on acalendar event received from a device (such as a smartphone, forexample). The calendar event may include information extracted from auser's contact list, calendar, email, or other smartphoneapplication(s). The VCS may adjust one or more vehicle settings at theinfotainment system based on the calendar event. The one or more vehiclesettings may be prepared based on information provided in the calendarentry. For example, the information may include, but is not limited to,login information for a conference meeting (gotomeetings™, WebEx™, etc.,for example).

The VCS may receive the login information and configure the infotainmentsystem by adjusting at least one of a user interface screen, contactphone number, and/or a combination thereof. For example, the calendarevent may include a meeting entry that is scheduled to occur while thevehicle occupant is in the vehicle. The VCS may adjust the vehiclesettings at the infotainment system based on one or more meeting optionsprovided to the vehicle occupant including output of a meeting remindernotice at the display, initiate a log in request for the meeting via acommunicaiton module and transceiver (hyperlink connection, phone call,etc., for example), and/or output a meeting shared screen via the userinterface screen.

The VCS may parse the meeting entry for a conference call number,password, hyperlink (transmission control protocol and the internetprotocol, for example), attendee identification, user name, and/or acombination thereof. The VCS may configure the one or more vehiclesettings to enable the occupant to log in to the meeting via theinfotainment system. By parsing the meeting entry and retrieving thelogin information (conference call number, password, etc., for example),the VCS may allow the occupant to connect to the meeting using theinfotainment system. In one example, the conference meeting may requirea user name (email address) and/or a password to log in to the meeting,the VCS may provide the required user name and/or password based on oneor more preconfigured settings. In another example, the VCS may beconfigured to provide the user name and/or password based on the parsedinformation received from the meeting entry.

The VCS may parse the meeting entry to extract additional informationthat may include one or more attendees, a subject, description, etc. Theadditional information related to the vehicle occupant's meeting entrymay enable the VCS to provide added options. For example, the addedoptions may include generating a message to the one or more attendeesbased on input received from the vehicle occupant via the infotainmentsystem. The message may be a predefined response to notify the one ormore attendees. The predefined response may include, but is not limitedto, a message that the vehicle occupant may be ten minutes late to themeeting.

In another example, in response to a recognized vehicle occupant (apreviously paired smartphone associated with the occupant, for example),the VCS may retrieve the meeting entry from a calendar associated withthe occupant from a server. The VCS may precondition one or moresettings based on the meeting entry (dialing a phone number associatedwith the meeting, connecting to a hyperlink associated with a meetingand/or displaying a shared screen, for example). The VCS may output oneor more meeting options based on the meeting entry that includeinitiating the meeting, configuring the infotainment system for theshared screen, delaying the meeting, declining the meeting, and/or acombination thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block topology for the VCS 1 for a vehicle31. An example of such a VCS 1 is the SYNC system manufactured by THEFORD MOTOR COMPANY. A vehicle enabled with a vehicle-based computingsystem may contain a visual front end interface 4 located in thevehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if itis provided, for example, with a touch sensitive screen. In anotherillustrative embodiment, the interaction occurs through, button presses,spoken dialog system with automatic speech recognition and speechsynthesis.

In the illustrative embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 1, a processor 3 controlsat least some portion of the operation of the vehicle-based computingsystem. Provided within the vehicle, the processor allows onboardprocessing of commands and routines. Further, the processor 3 isconnected to both non-persistent 5 and persistent storage 7. In thisillustrative embodiment, the non-persistent storage is random accessmemory (RAM) and the persistent storage is a hard disk drive (HDD) orflash memory. In general, persistent (non-transitory) memory can includeall forms of memory that maintain data when a computer or other deviceis powered down. These include, but are not limited to, HDDs, CDs, DVDs,magnetic tapes, solid state drives, portable USB drives and any othersuitable form of persistent memory.

The processor 3 is also provided with a number of different inputsallowing the user to interface with the processor. In this illustrativeembodiment, a microphone 29, an auxiliary input 25 (for input 33), a USBinput 23, a GPS input 24, screen 4, which may be a touchscreen display,and a BLUETOOTH input 15 are all provided. An input selector 51 is alsoprovided, to allow a user to swap between various inputs. Input to boththe microphone and the auxiliary connector is converted from analog todigital by a converter 27 before being passed to the processor. Althoughnot shown, numerous vehicle components and auxiliary components incommunication with the VCS 1 may use a vehicle network (such as, but notlimited to, a CAN bus) to pass data to and from the VCS 1 (or componentsthereof).

Outputs to the system may include, but are not limited to, a visualdisplay 4 and a speaker 13 or stereo system output. The speaker 13 isconnected to an amplifier 11 and receives its signal from the processor3 through a digital-to-analog converter 9. Output can also be made to aremote BLUETOOTH device such as PND 54 or a USB device such as vehiclenavigation device 60 along the bi-directional data streams shown at 19and 21 respectively.

In one illustrative embodiment, the system 1 uses the BLUETOOTHtransceiver 15 to communicate 17 with a user's nomadic device 53 (cellphone, smart phone, PDA, or any other device having wireless remotenetwork connectivity, for example). The nomadic device 53 can then beused to communicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle 31 through,for example, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. In someembodiments, tower 57 may be a WiFi access point. The nomadic device 53may also be used to communicate 84 with an accessory device such as awearable device 83 (smartwatch, smart glasses, etc., for example). Thenomadic device 53 may communicate 84 one or more control functions tothe wearable device 83. For example, the nomadic device 53 may enablethe wearable device 83 to accept a phone call, enable a mobileapplication, receive notifications, and/or a combination thereof. Inanother example, the wearable device 83 may transmit vehicle controlfeatures/functions to the VCS 1 based on one or more mobile applicationsexecuted at the nomadic device 53.

Communication between the nomadic device 53 and the BLUETOOTHtransceiver is represented by signal 14. Pairing a nomadic device 53 andthe BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 can be instructed through a button 52 orsimilar input. Accordingly, the CPU 3 is instructed so that the onboardBLUETOOTH transceiver will be paired with a BLUETOOTH transceiver in anomadic device.

Data may be communicated between CPU 3 and network 61 utilizing, forexample, a data-plan, data over voice, or DTMF tones associated withnomadic device 53. Alternatively, it may be desirable to include anonboard modem 63 having an antenna 18 in order to communicate 16 databetween CPU 3 and network 61 over the voice band. The nomadic device 53may then be used to communicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle31 through, for example, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. Insome embodiments, the modem 63 may establish communication 20 with thetower 57 for communicating with network 61. As a non-limiting example,modem 63 may be a USB cellular modem and communication 20 may becellular communication.

In one illustrative embodiment, the processor is provided with anoperating system including an API to communicate with modem applicationsoftware. The modem application software may access an embedded moduleor firmware on the BLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wirelesscommunication with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found ina nomadic device). Bluetooth is a subset of the IEEE 802 PAN (personalarea network) protocols. IEEE 802 LAN (local area network) protocolsinclude Wi-Fi and have considerable cross-functionality with IEEE 802PAN. Both are suitable for wireless communication within a vehicle.Another communication means that can be used in this realm is free-spaceoptical communication (such as IrDA) and non-standardized consumer IRprotocols.

In another embodiment, the nomadic device 53 includes a modem for voiceband or broadband data communication. In the data-over-voice embodiment,a technique known as frequency division multiplexing may be implementedwhen the owner of the nomadic device 53 can talk over the device whiledata is being transferred. At other times, when the owner is not usingthe device, the data transfer can use the whole bandwidth (300 Hz to 3.4kHz in one example). While frequency division multiplexing may be commonfor analog cellular communication between the vehicle and the internet,and is still used, it has been largely replaced by hybrids of CodeDomain Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA),Space-Domain Multiple Access (SDMA) for digital cellular communication.These are all ITU IMT-2000 (3G) compliant standards and offer data ratesup to 2 mbs for stationary or walking users and 385 kbs for users in amoving vehicle. 3G standards are now being replaced by IMT-Advanced (4G)which offers 100 mbs for users in a vehicle and 1 gbs for stationaryusers. If the user has a data-plan associated with the nomadic device53, it is possible that the data-plan allows for broad-band transmissionand the system could use a much wider bandwidth (speeding up datatransfer). In still another embodiment, nomadic device 53 is replacedwith a cellular communication device (not shown) that is installed tovehicle 31. In yet another embodiment, the ND 53 may be a wireless localarea network (LAN) device capable of communication over, for example(and without limitation), an 802.11g network (i.e., WiFi) or a WiMaxnetwork.

In one embodiment, incoming data can be passed through the nomadicdevice 53 via a data-over-voice or data-plan, through the onboardBLUETOOTH transceiver and into the vehicle's internal processor 3. Inthe case of certain temporary data, for example, the data can be storedon the HDD or other storage media 7 until such time as the data is nolonger needed.

Additional sources that may interface with the vehicle include apersonal navigation device 54, having, for example, a USB connection 56and/or an antenna 58, a vehicle navigation device 60 having a USB 62 orother connection, an onboard GPS device 24, or remote navigation system(not shown) having connectivity to network 61. USB is one of a class ofserial networking protocols. IEEE 1394 (FireWire™ (Apple), i.LINK™(Sony), and Lynx™ (Texas Instruments)), EIA (Electronics IndustryAssociation) serial protocols, IEEE 1284 (Centronics Port), S/PDIF(Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format) and USB-IF (USB ImplementersForum) form the backbone of the device-device serial standards. Most ofthe protocols can be implemented for either electrical or opticalcommunication.

Further, the CPU 3 could be in communication with a variety of otherauxiliary devices 65. These devices can be connected through a wireless67 or wired 69 connection. Auxiliary device 65 may include, but are notlimited to, personal media players, wireless health devices, portablecomputers, and the like.

Also, or alternatively, the CPU 3 could be connected to a vehicle basedwireless router 73, using for example a WiFi (IEEE 803.11) 71transceiver. This could allow the CPU 3 to connect to remote networks inrange of the local router 73.

In addition to having representative processes executed by a VCS 1located in a vehicle, in certain embodiments, the processes may beexecuted by a computing system in communication with a vehicle computingsystem. Such a system may include, but is not limited to, a wirelessdevice (e.g., and without limitation, a mobile phone) or a remotecomputing system (e.g., and without limitation, a server) connectedthrough the wireless device. Collectively, such systems may be referredto as vehicle associated computing systems (VACS). In certainembodiments particular components of the VACS may perform particularportions of a process depending on the particular implementation of thesystem. By way of example and not limitation, if a process includessending or receiving information with a paired wireless device, then itis likely that the wireless device is not performing the process, sincethe wireless device would not “send and receive” information with itselfOne of ordinary skill in the art will understand when it isinappropriate to apply a particular VACS to a given solution. In allsolutions, it is contemplated that at least the vehicle computing system(VCS) located within the vehicle itself is capable of performing theprocesses.

FIG. 2 is a representative block topology of a system 100 forintegrating one or more connected devices with the VCS 1. The CPU 3 maybe in communication with one or more transceivers. The one or moretransceivers are capable of wired and wireless communication for theintegration of one or more devices. To facilitate the integration, theCPU 3 may include a device integration framework 101 configured toprovide various services to the connected devices. These services mayinclude transport routing of messages between the connected devices andthe CPU 3, global notification services to allow connected devices toprovide alerts to the user, application launch and management facilitiesto allow for unified access to applications executed by the CPU 3 andthose executed by the connected devices, accident detection notification(911 ASSIST™, that is), vehicle access control (locking and unlockingthe vehicle doors, for example), conference calling and web meetingservices to allow for a conference meeting to be connected by the CPU 3and presented at the display 4, and point of interest location andmanagement services for various possible vehicle 31 destinations.

As mentioned above, the CPU 3 of the VCS 1 may be configured tointerface with one or more nomadic devices 53 of various types. Thenomadic device 53 may further include a device integration clientcomponent 103 to allow the nomadic device 53 (smartphone, for example)to take advantage of the services provided by the device integrationframework 101. The device integration client component 103 may bereferred to as an application. The application is executed on hardwareof the nomadic device 53. The application may communicate data from thenomadic device 53 to the VCS 1 via the transceiver.

The nomadic device 53 may communicate application data with a wearabledevice 83 via wireless technology. The wireless technology may includeBluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The wearable device 83 may receiveapplication data executed at the nomadic device 53 using a wearabledevice integration component. The wearable device integration componentmay allow the wearable device 83 to take advantage of the servicesprovided by the device integration framework 101 and the deviceintegration client component 103. For example, the wearable device 83may receive application data including one or more control functions forthe vehicle. The wearable device 83 may receive one or more controlfunction inputs via a user interface and transmit the inputs to thenomadic device 53. In one example, the wearable device 83 may receive acontrol function request such as a configuration of the infotainmentsystem based on the VCS 1 parsing login information from a meetingentry. The wearable device 83 may transmit an acceptance of theconfiguration request to the CPU 3 via the nomadic device 53.

The one or more transceivers may include a multiport connector hub 102.The multiport connector hub 102 may be used to interface between the CPU3 and additional types of connected devices other than the nomadicdevices 53. The multiport connector hub 102 may communicate with the CPU3 over various buses and protocols, such as via USB, and may furthercommunicate with the connected devices using various other connectionbuses and protocols, such as Serial Peripheral Interface Bus (SPI),Inter-integrated circuit (I2C), and/or Universal AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (UART). The multiport connector hub 102 may furtherperform communication protocol translation and interworking servicesbetween the protocols used by the connected devices and the protocolused between the multiport connector hub 102 and the CPU 3. Theconnected devices may include, as some non-limiting examples, a radardetector 104, a global position receiver device 106, and a storagedevice 108. In one example, the storage device 108 may comprise calendarinformation associated with a vehicle occupant. The storage device 108may be update periodically to receive calendar information for thevehicle occupant. In another example, the storage device 108 may beconfigured to receive calendar information from a remote server.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 300 of the VCS 1configuring the user-interactive vehicle information display based on ameeting entry at a calendar. The one or more meeting options for theuser-interactive vehicle information display may control the display 4,microphone 29, speaker 13, and/or a combination thereof based on themeeting entry. The user-interactive vehicle information display may becontrolled by the VCS 1 in communication with several control modulesincluding, but not limited to, a radio control module, an embeddedcellular phone module, a navigation control module, a body controlmodule (BCM), an embedded WiFi module, and a heating, ventilation andair conditioning module (HVAC).

The VCS 1 may establish a wireless connection with the nomadic device 53belonging to the occupant. The nomadic device 53 may have a processor303 configured to execute an operating system 305 and a transceiver 315configured to communicate with the VCS 1. The VCS 1 may communicate withone or more applications 317 being executed on the nomadic deviceprocessor 303. For example, the one or more applications 317 mayinclude, but are not limited to, Gmail™, Facebook™, Microsoft Outlook™and a combination thereof. The one or more applications 317 may includecalendar information associated with the occupant. The VCS 1 maycommunicate with the one or more applications 317 having the occupant'scalendar information.

The VCS 1 may transmit a request to initialize 302 the Bluetoothwireless transceiver 15. The Bluetooth wireless transceiver 15 maybroadcast a wireless protocol 304, such as BLUETOOTH, to provide a meansof communicating with the nomadic device 53. The nomadic device 53 mayestablish communication 304 with the VCS 1 via the nomadic devicetransceiver 315. In one example, the nomadic device 53 may provide aunique identification code stored in the operating system software 305,the one or more applications 317, or a combination thereof. The VCS 1may be preconfigured to associate the unique identification code with anoccupant identification.

The VCS 1 may receive the occupant identification 306 based on theunique identification code from one or more devices including a remotekey fob, a nomadic device 53, and a keyless entry system keypad. In oneexample, the VCS 1 may recognize the occupant based on the previouslypaired nomadic device 53 belonging to the occupant. In another example,the VCS 1 may use biometrics to recognize an occupant. The vehicleprocessor 3 may request calendar information for the occupant 308 abased on the occupant identification. The VCS 1 may transmit thecalendar request for the occupant 308 b to the nomadic device 53 via thetransceiver 15. The nomadic device 53 may retrieve the calendar for theoccupant 310 from the one or more applications 317 being executed on thenomadic device processor 303.

In one example, the one or more applications 317 may receive the requestand begin to search for the calendar. In another example, the nomadicdevice processor 303 may transmit a request 312 to retrieve the calendarassociated with the occupant stored at a remote network (server, forexample) 61. The remote network 61 may be configured to store theoccupant's calendar associated with the one or more applications. Thenomadic device 53 may request the calendar for the occupant 312 from theremote network 61, receive the calendar for the occupant 314 from theremote network 61, and transmit the calendar for the occupant 316 to theVCS 1 via the nomadic device transceiver 315.

The VCS 1 may receive the calendar associated with the occupant 318 a,318 b (herein known as 318). The VCS 1 may parse the calendar toidentify a meeting entry (conference meeting, for example) 320. Forexample, the meeting entry may include login information (hyperlink,password, call-in number, etc., for example), attendees (meetingparticipants, for example), subject of the meeting, and/or a combinationthereof.

The VCS 1 may generate one or more meeting options 322 based on themeeting entry. For example, the VCS 1 may recognize that the logininformation is a phone number, a call password associated with the phonenumber, a hyperlink, a share screen password associated with thehyperlink, and/or a combination thereof. The login information may becorrelated into one or more meeting options to allow the user to selecta login option for the meeting. The VCS 1 may transmit the one or moremeeting options 324 to the vehicle display 4. The vehicle display 4 mayoutput the one or more meeting options for section by the occupant.

In another example, a meeting configuration request may be outputted bythe VCS 1 based on a parsed meeting entry. The VCS 1 may output anaccept and decline option at the vehicle display 4 for the meetingconfiguration request based on the meeting entry scheduled in thecalendar. In response to the accept option received via an inputassociated with the vehicle display 4, the VCS 1 may establishcommunication with the conference call for the meeting entry. The inputassociated with the vehicle display 4 may be a soft key, hard key, touchscreen selection at the display, and/or a combination thereof.

In response to the one or more meeting options outputted at the display4, the VCS 1 may receive a selected conference meeting option 326. TheVCS 1 may transmit a request for the conference call connection based onthe identified login information 328 a. The conference call connection328 b by the VCS 1 may be established using the nomadic device 53 viathe transceiver 15. The nomadic device 53 may establish the conferencecall connection 330 using the log in information from the meeting entry.

The nomadic device may receive communication data based on theestablished conference call connection and transmit the communicationdata 332 to the VCS 1. The VCS 1 may receive the communication data 334a, 334 b (herein known as 334) for the conference call from the nomadicdevice 53. The received communication data may include, but is notlimited to, an established communication line for voice, share screendata, and/or a combination thereof. Before enabling the share screendata to be presented at the vehicle display 4, the VCS 1 may determineif the vehicle is in an acceptable state 336.

For example, the shared screen data may be associated with an attendeeof the meeting entry. The VCS 1 may compare one or more predefinedvariables to a threshold to determine if the vehicle is in an acceptablestate to output the shared screen 338 at the display 4. In one example,the VCS 1 may monitor a transmission gear state variable and in responseto the transmission gear state variable being in a PARK gear state, theVCS 1 may output the shared screen data to the display. In anotherembodiment, the one or more meeting options may include an option topresent the shared screen to a rear seat display, therefore, the VCS 1may output the shared screen data to the rear seat display withoutdetermining if the vehicle is in an acceptable state.

In response to the vehicle being in an acceptable state, the VCS 1 maytransmit the shared screen data 338 to the display 4. The VCS 1 maycontinuously monitor the one or more predefined variables to determineif the vehicle exits the acceptable state. If the VCS 1 detects that theone or more predefined variables are in an unacceptable state, the VCS 1may exit and remove the shared screen from the display 4.

In one example, a smartwatch 83 may receive a request to select one ormore meeting options based on the meeting entry via a wirelesscommunication connection with the VCS 1. The smartwatch 83 may transmitto the VCS 1 a selection of the one or more meeting options based onuser input received at the smartwatch. In another example, the nomadicdevice 53 may receive the request to enable the communication line forthe conference call from the smartwatch 83. The nomadic device 53 maytransmit the conference call enable request from the smartwatch 83 tothe VCS 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a representative example of the VCS 1 presenting oneor more meeting options at the display 4 based on the meeting entry. Theuser interface 400 may be presented at the touchscreen display 4 and mayinclude a list control 402 configured to display selectable list entries404-A through 404-E (collectively 404) of the one or more meetingoptions based on the meeting entry. The VCS 1 may enable the occupant toscroll through each of the selectable list entries 404 based on a parsedmeeting entry.

In response to one or more meeting options identified based on a parsedcalendar entry, the VCS 1 may present the selectable list entries 404 atthe display 4. The VCS 1 may highlight each of the one or moreselectable list entries 404 that may be elected by an occupant toconfigure one or more settings at the infotainment system based on themeeting entry. The user interface 400 may also include a title label 408to indicate to the occupant that the user interface 400 recognized thecalendar entry for the occupant.

In response to the parsed calendar belonging to an occupant, the VCS 1may recognize that a meeting entry for the occupant falls within athreshold for a predefined time window. The VCS 1 may output theupcoming calendar event to the display 4 based on the schedule time forthe meeting entry falling within the predefined time window. In oneexample, the VCS 1 may calculate the predefined time window based on theamount of travel time from the current vehicle location to a destinationentered in a navigation system. In response to the amount of traveltime, the VCS 1 may search for a meeting entry at the calendar withinthe predefined time window.

For example, the meeting entry may be entitled “Conference Call withDetroit Office” and may be scheduled for 12:30 P.M. The meeting entrymay have login information that includes a hyperlink, a conference callnumber, and an attendee ID. The VCS 1 may request the login informationfrom the meeting entry to generate one or more meeting options. The oneor more meeting options may configure the infotainment system if thepredefined time window is equal to or exceeds the scheduled time for themeeting entry.

Continuing from the example above, the predefined time window may be setto fifteen minutes before at least one of the scheduled meeting entryand the travel time associated with the current location and enterednavigation destination. For example, in response to the scheduledmeeting entry being at 12:30 P.M. and the current time being 11:55 A.M.,the VCS 1 may calculate that the travel time from the vehicle's currentlocation to the entered destination is twenty minutes, corresponding toan arrival time at the destination of 12:15 P.M. Since the predefinedtime window is set to fifteen minutes, the VCS 1 may output the upcomingcalendar event to the display 4 based on the remaining travel time tothe entered destination being within the predefined time window of themeeting start time. This allows the occupant to be aware of the meetingand provides the option to join the meeting using the infotainmentsystem.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the selectable list 402 of the calendar entryincludes an entry 404-A for calling-in to the conference meeting, anentry 404-B for starting a shared screen for the conference meeting, anentry 404-C for reminding the occupant in five minutes of the conferencemeeting, and an entry 404-D for dismissing the conference meeting event.The list control 402 may operate as a menu, such that an occupant mayscroll through the list entries of the list control 402 (using up anddown arrow buttons and a select button to invoke the selected menus item406, for example).

For example, in response to the occupant selecting 406 the call-in entry404-A, the VCS 1 may configure the infotainment system to enablecommunication with the meeting based on the login information parsedfrom the meeting entry. The login information may include a conferencecall number, hyperlink, password, attendee ID, and/or a combinationthereof. The infotainment system may receive the login information fromthe meeting entry and establish communication with the meeting based onat least one of the conference call number, hyperlink, password, andattendee ID. For example, the VCS 1 may transmit a request to call theconference call number using an embedded cell phone or the nomadicdevice in communication with the VCS 1. The infotainment system may beconfigured by the VCS 1 to use the microphone 29 and speaker 13 tocommunicate with the conference call.

The VCS 1 may configure the infotainment system display 4 to output ashared screen for the conference meeting if the vehicle is in apredefined state. In another example, in response to the selected startshared screen conference entry 404-B, the VCS 1 may request connectionto the shared screen via the hyperlink parsed from the meeting entry.The VCS 1 may connect to the conference meeting via the hyperlink usingan embedded modem, the nomadic device, and/or a combination thereof. TheVCS 1 may receive shared screen data via the hyperlink and output theconference meeting shared screen at the display 4.

FIG. 5A illustrates a representative example of the VCS 1 presenting ameeting entry configuration request. The VCS 1 may provide aninfotainment system having one or more features and functions. The oneor more features and functions may have vehicle setting input controlspresented at the display 4. The vehicle setting input controls for theone or more features and function may include, but are not limited to,audio 508, climate 510, phone 512, navigation 514, applications 501, andmiscellaneous infotainment settings 516.

The VCS 1 may retrieve a calendar belonging to the occupant and beginparsing for upcoming calendar events that fall within a predefinedmoving time window. The predefined moving time window is a moving timewindow for a selected time value from the current time. In response tothe VCS 1 detecting an upcoming calendar entry (meeting entry, forexample), the system may output a configuration message 502 at thedisplay 4. The configuration message 502 may include the title 503 ofthe calendar entry and whether the occupant accepts 504 or declines 506the configuration of the infotainment system based on the entry.

The VCS 1 may identify one or more meeting options based on the calendarentry. Continuing from the example above, the VCS 1 may output theConference Call with Detroit Office configuration request at the display4. In response to an acceptance selection of the configuration request,the VCS 1 may establish communication with the conference meeting basedon the login information embedded in the calendar entry. The VCS 1 mayestablish the conference call based on the login information and enablethe shared screen if the vehicle is in a predefined state. The VCS 1 mayconfigure one or more settings of the infotainment system based on thereceived accept 504 option at the user interface display 4. In responseto the occupant selecting the decline 506 option, the VCS 1 may continueto operate the infotainment system at the current vehicle settings.

FIG. 5B illustrates a representative example of the VCS 1 outputting ashared screen 550 at the display 4 based on the meeting entry. The VCS 1may detect that the vehicle is in the predefined state before outputtingthe shared screen to the display 4. For example, the occupant mayinitiate the conference meeting via an audio connection established bythe VCS 1 using the call-in information, hyperlink, and/or combinationthereof. The shared screen 550 may not be displayed by the VCS 1 untilthe predefined state is met.

The VCS 1 may configure the display 4 to output the shared screen 550 asa web conferencing and/or video conferencing application executed at theCPU 3. The shared screen 550 offers data streams of text-based messages,voice and video chat to be shared simultaneously on the display 4. Forexample, the shared screen 550 may include one or more attendees 554-Athrough 554-C (collectively 554). The display 4 may be configured tooutput a live video feed of the one or more attendees 554 participatingin the meeting. The shared screen 550 may include a document 552 beingshared by the one or more attendees 554. The display 4 may be configuredto output the document 552.

In another example, the infotainment system may include a video camerain communication with the VCS 1. The camera may capture a picture orvideo of the occupant in the vehicle. The camera may enable the VCS 1 totransmit the occupant's image for display to the other attendees of themeeting entry communicating via the shared screen.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of the VCS 1configuring the display based on the meeting entry according to anembodiment. The method 600 may be implemented using software codecontained within the nomadic device, wearable device, VCS, and acombination thereof.

Referring again to FIG. 6, the vehicle and its components illustrated inFIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are referencedthroughout the description of the method to facilitate understanding ofvarious aspects of the present disclosure. The method 600 of configuringthe display to communicate with a conference call and/or web conferencebased on a calendar entry may be implemented through a computeralgorithm, machine executable code, or software instructions programmedinto a suitable programmable logic device(s) of the vehicle, such as thevehicle control module, the nomadic device control module, smartwatchcontrol module, another controller in communication with the vehiclecomputing system, or a combination thereof. Although the variousoperations shown in the flowchart diagram 600 appear to occur in achronological sequence, at least some of the operations may occur in adifferent order, and some operations may be performed concurrently ornot at all.

In operation 602, the VCS 1 may be initialized and enabled based on akey-on position or state of an ignition system. The VCS 1 may initializeone or more applications for execution. In response to theinitialization of the VCS 1, the system may display the one or moreapplication at a user interface. For example, the VCS 1 may execute theconference calling and web meeting services application.

In operation 604, the VCS 1 may recognize an occupant using severalmethods including, but not limited to, a device previously paired withthe system. In response to a recognized device not previously pairedwith the system, provide instructions to the occupant to pair the devicewith the VCS in operation 606.

In operation 608, the recognized device may establish communication withthe VCS 1. In response to the device not connected to the VCS 1,transmit a request to the device to begin communicating with the systemin operation 610.

In operation 612, the VCS 1 may request an occupant's calendar. Forexample, the calendar may be stored at the nomadic device, at the remoteserver, and/or a combination thereof. In another example, the VCS 1 maystore a portion of the occupant's calendar in local memory. The VCS 1may request calendar information within a predefined time window inoperation 614. For example, the VCS 1 may be interested in all calendarentries from the current time to the impending sixty minutes. Forexample, if the current time is 11:55 A.M., the VCS 1 may search thecalendar for a meeting entry from 11:55 A.M. to 12:55 P.M. If the VCS 1does not detect a calendar event within the predefined time window, theVCS 1 may continue to search for a calendar entry via a movingpredefined time window in operation 616.

In operation 618, in response to a detected meeting entry, the VCS 1 mayparse the entry. The VCS 1 may recognize login information associatedwith the meeting entry in operation 620. In response to the recognizedlogin information, the VCS 1 may identify call-in and/or share screeninformation related to the meeting entry in operation 622. For example,if the share screen information associated with the meeting entryincludes an internet hyperlink, the VCS 1 may retrieve the occupant'sinformation including a user name, email address, and/or password sothat the system may login to the share screen via the internethyperlink.

In operation 624, the VCS 1 may receive the login information and/or theoccupant's information from at least one of a nomadic device, localmemory, a remote server, and/or a combination thereof. The VCS 1 maygenerate one or more meeting options based on the login information andoutput the one or more meeting options to the occupant at the display 4in operation 626.

In operation 628, in response to the one or more meeting options for themeeting entry, the VCS 1 may output an accept option to the occupant toselect an option. If the occupant accepts, the VCS 1 may enable theselected option based on the meeting entry in operation 630. Forexample, the VCS 1 may establish a communication link for a conferencecall associated with the meeting entry. In another example, the VCS 1may establish a web conference for the meeting entry based on theselected option at the user interface display.

The VCS 1 may check whether the vehicle powertrain system is in a PARKstate in operation 632. In response to the vehicle powertrain systembeing in the PARK state, the system may enable the shared screen at thedisplay 4 in operation 634. If the vehicle powertrain system is not inthe PARK state, the VCS 1 may continue to allow the communication linkfor voice conferencing. The VCS 1 may continue to monitor the PARK stateto determine if the shared screen may be outputted at the display duringthe communication link. The VCS 1 may end the method of enabling aconference call and/or a web conference based on an occupant's calendarentries if a key-off position of the ignition system is detected inoperation 636.

While representative embodiments are described above, it is not intendedthat these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by theclaims. The words used in the specification are words of descriptionrather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Aspreviously described, the features of various embodiments can becombined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not beexplicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments couldhave been described as providing advantages or being preferred overother embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one ormore desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the artrecognize that one or more features or characteristics can becompromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which dependon the specific application and implementation. These attributes caninclude, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cyclecost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability,weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodimentsdescribed as less desirable than other embodiments or prior artimplementations with respect to one or more characteristics are notoutside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particularapplications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle system comprising: a display configuredto output infotainment settings; and a processor in communication withthe display and a nomadic device and programmed to, parse a calendarassociated with the nomadic device for a meeting starting within a timewindow; identify login information for the meeting; and in response tothe vehicle being in a predefined state, output at the display a sharedscreen for the meeting based on the login information.
 2. The vehiclesystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to outputone or more meeting options based on the login information to thedisplay.
 3. The vehicle system of claim 2, wherein the one or moremeeting options are at least one of a call-in to meeting selection, astart shared screen conference selection, a delay meeting reminderselection, and a dismiss meeting selection.
 4. The vehicle system ofclaim 3, wherein the processor is further programmed to, in response toreceived input for the start shared screen conference selection, outputthe shared screen at the display based on the predefined state of thevehicle.
 5. The vehicle system of claim 3, wherein the delay meetingreminder selection removes the one or more meeting options from thedisplay for a predefined amount of time.
 6. The vehicle system of claim5, wherein the predefined state is at least one of a park state for atransmission and a wheel speed value approximately equal to zero.
 7. Thevehicle system of claim 1, wherein the time window corresponds to a setamount of time.
 8. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the timewindow corresponds to a moving window based on a predetermined time froma current time.
 9. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the display isa human machine interface display for an infotainment system.
 10. Thevehicle system of claim 1, wherein the login information includes atleast one of a phone number, access code, hyperlink, and attendee ID.11. The vehicle system of claim 10, wherein the hyperlink enables acommunication link between a remote computer controlled by a meetingattendee and the processor.
 12. The vehicle system of claim 11, whereinthe shared screen provides content received from the remote computer.13. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the calendar is stored at thenomadic device or a server.
 14. A vehicle conference call methodcomprising: recognizing, via a vehicle system, an occupant based on anomadic device; parsing calendar data associated with the occupant for ameeting starting within a predefined time window and associated meetinglogin information; presenting a prompt via a vehicle display forauthorization of a communication link for the meeting; and ifauthorization is received, automatically transmitting the logininformation using the communication link.
 15. The vehicle conferencecall method of claim 14, further comprising: establishing, via thevehicle system, communication with a remote server associated with thecalendar data; and receiving the calendar data associated with theoccupant from the remote server.
 16. The vehicle conference call methodof claim 14, wherein presenting a prompt comprises outputting to thevehicle display one or more meeting options based on the logininformation.
 17. The vehicle conference call method of claim 16, whereinthe one or more meeting options are at least one of a call-in to meetingselection, a start shared screen conference selection, a delay meetingreminder selection, and a dismiss meeting selection.
 18. The vehicleconference call method of claim 14, wherein the meeting logininformation includes at least one of a phone number, access code,hyperlink, and attendee ID.
 19. A computer-program product embodied in anon-transitory computer readable medium having stored instructions forprogramming a vehicle processor, comprising instructions for: parsing alinked nomadic device calendar for a meeting starting within a selectedtime period; identifying login information for the meeting; establishinga communication link for the meeting based on the identified logininformation; and in response to a predefined vehicle state, outputting ashared screen for the meeting at a display.
 20. The computer-programproduct of claim 19, the non-transitory computer readable medium furthercomprising instructions for: establishing communication with a remoteserver; and retrieving the calendar from the remote server.